Pathways to Work accepts recommendations from the public for two types of studies:

  1. Completed studies to be considered for review
  2. In-progress studies to be considered for inclusion on Studies Underway

Studies should focus on programs or policies intended to directly or indirectly improve employment or earnings of people with low incomes. We also accept submission of relevant literature reviews that may include potentially eligible studies. 

How do you submit a recommendation?

To recommend a study, submit the following information:

  1. Completed studies – Study citation
  2. In-progress studies – Formal description of the study’s methods; focal program or policy and population; the outcomes to be examined (can be provided in a study webpage, study pre-registration, and/or study proposal). Additional information can include the funder, evaluator, study dates and setting.

Recommendations can be submitted at any time to PathwaysClearinghouse@abtglobal.com. To find studies that have been reviewed by Pathways to Work, visit the Study Search page. All submitters will receive acknowledgment of their submission’s receipt. Pathways to Work is not able to inform individual submitters when their study may be considered for review or inclusion on Studies Underway. Please sign up for our email list for updates on when new studies are reviewed and other Pathways to Work resources.

What studies are eligible for review by Pathways to Work?

To be eligible for review, studies must:

  • Have been published in 1990 or later.
  • Have been conducted in the United States or Canada.
  • Assess the effectiveness of a program or policy using quantitative methods. Pathways to Work reviews randomized controlled trials and comparison-group quasi-experimental designs (including interrupted time series designs). Descriptive studies, including studies that examine the outcomes of a program without a comparison group that did not receive the intervention, are not eligible for review.
  • Examine a program serving people with low incomes and who are age 16 or older at the time of enrollment. Studies meet this criterion if a manuscript’s authors declare a sample or population to have low income, using any definition of low income the authors provide. Alternatively, the sample or population is low income if a majority of the sample includes people who are experiencing homelessness, people who have formerly been incarcerated, people receiving means-tested public benefits, disconnected youth, or people characterized by the authors as having low skills. 
  • Examine a program or policy aiming to directly or indirectly improve employment or earnings. Eligible programs include employment and training programs as well as programs that could indirectly improve employment through strategies such as general education, two-generation programs, or programs to help individuals stabilize their lives.
  • Examine the effect of a program or policy on employment or earnings outcomes. Studies must examine impacts on some measure of employment or earnings.
  • Examine a program or policy serving individuals. Studies focused on policies or programs for entire communities, such as enterprise zones, or employers, such as tax credits for hiring disadvantaged workers, are not eligible for review. Studies of policies affecting a state or country are also not eligible.
  • Provide details on the services provided. Studies must describe the program examined in sufficient detail so that other studies of the same program could potentially be identified by reviewers.

What studies are eligible for inclusion on Studies Underway?

To be eligible for inclusion on the Pathways to Work webpage Studies Underway, studies must:

  • Be in progress. Studies should be far enough along that they have a documented focus (e.g., program, policy, population) and evaluation design, but not so far that they have published impact findings.
  • Be on track to be eligible for review by Pathways to Work once completed. Studies should provide information indicating that the planned methods; focal programs or policies and populations; and outcomes to be examined make the study likely eligible for review by Pathways to Work once completed. See the eligibility criteria for review by Pathways to Work above.

What happens after you recommend a study?

  • Recommendations are logged by Pathways to Work staff.
  • Submitters receive acknowledgment of their submission's receipt, but Pathways to Work is not able to inform individual submitters when the study may be considered for review or inclusion on Studies Underway. Please sign up for our email list for updates on when new studies are reviewed and other Pathways to Work resources.